These Are The Best Car Batteries, According To Consumer Reports

It’s been a long day, and you’re ready to go home. It’s snowing outside, so you bundle up, run through the parking lot to your car, push the start button and … nothing. Zilch, nada. Your car remains in its now-frozen slumber because its battery has died. 

Avoiding situations like this is why Consumer Reports tests car batteries and reports on its findings. Car batteries are not all the same. Some hold their charges longer than others, or withstand heat and cold better. It’s best to have a battery you can depend on without having to take additional measures just to keep your car’s battery alive and ready.

To find the winners and losers, Consumer Reports performs extensive testing. Recently, it extensively tested more than 100 kinds of car batteries from many manufacturers in its labs. To simulate the conditions they may experience, CR charged and discharged the batteries being tested 180 times at temperatures from as high as 167 degrees down to zero degrees. And when the testing was complete, both name-brand and relatively unknown brands gained a Consumer Reports recommendation.   

Consumer Reports gave the thumbs up to a little less than half of the car batteries it tested. To make sure its comparisons are apples to apples, its “CR Recommended” ratings are segregated by battery group. The battery group then corresponds to the size of the battery being tested, like AAA, AA, C, and D batteries used around the house. 

The smallest car batteries are Size 24 and 24F, fitting many small cars from Acura, Honda, Infiniti, Lexus, Nissan, and Toyota. Taking the top spot was the X2Power SLI24FAGMDP battery, which earned honors for battery life, reserve capacity, and cold-weather performance. If you want this battery, expect to shell out about $350.

Moving up to somewhat larger batteries, Consumer Reports tested Size 35 batteries, which fit most Japanese vehicles, including Honda, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, and Toyota. Coming out on top was the Odyssey Extreme Series 35-PC1400T. It earned the same top ratings as the X2Power. It comes in slightly cheaper, though, with a suggested price of $345.40.

We are now in Size 47 batteries that fit larger vehicles from Buick, Chevrolet, Fiat, and Volkswagen. The winner in this size was the Duaralast Platinum AGM 47 H-5AGM, only losing points for its cold-weather performance. On the upside, this battery is priced at $270.

We’re now getting into larger batteries for bigger cars: Audis, BMWs, Buicks, Cadillacs, Chevrolets, GMCs, Jeeps, Volvos, and other plus-size vehicles. In Size 48 batteries, the winner was the Odyssey Performance 48-720. While its life and cold-weather performance were rated excellent, it earned only a good rating for its reserve capacity. It costs about $315. Moving to Size 49 — for many cars from Audi, BMW, Hyundai, and Mercedes-Benz — the nod goes to the ACDelco 49 AGM for battery life and reserve capacity rated as excellent, and good cold-weather performance. The AC Delco 49 AGM is a relative bargain at about $185.

We’re getting to the largest batteries now. In Group 51R (more Audis, BMWs, Hyundais, and Mercedes-Benzes), the Super Start Platinum AGM 51R-51RPLT was tops. Battery life and cold-weather performance earned excellent ratings while reserve capacity was rated good. At $250, it’s in the midrange of pricing. The largest batteries Consumer Reports tested are in the Size 65 category, for large Ford and Mercury cars, trucks and SUVs. The Super Start Platinum AGM 65PLT won for its battery life, reserve capacity, and cold-weather performance, graded as excellent. Its $190 price is icing on the cake.

When you compare all the batteries tested, price does not necessarily indicate performance. If your car uses certain size batteries, there are some performance bargains to be had. And remember, keep those battery terminals clean or you could end up having to jump-start your car in uncomfortable conditions!